iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Not very high, but my WBEZ Chicago Team won the Media League in 2013 or 2014, and I know I had a few strikes that helped out.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Naw, we’re going bowling later.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

It’s giant house spider season, and I’m using it to continue my quest to get over my fear of giant house spiders.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The caveat here is that bears are super problematic in Ashland and along the coastal towns. In Ashland, because the university gets new students each year who don’t know about securing trash, and along the coast because people feed them. While I haven’t seen many bears, I’ve seen a lot of damage.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I’ve seen one blurry little black bear in all the years I’ve lived in Oregon. New population models put black bears around 28,000+ in Oregon right now. We don’t even have good guesstimates for most pops pre1960s.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Many of those early policies went away when the population of predators went down significantly, or, in the case of wolves, they were extirpated. Not sure there was a specific date. More significant was the realization that predators at crucial to their ecosystems and efforts made to protect them.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Does this White-headed woodpecker have enough red to qualify as a #RedHead for today's #BirdOfTheDay theme? #Birds🐦

Shows a male white-headed woodpecker perching in a Juniper tree in Tumalo, Oregon

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

We are now at this part of the Oregon summer.

Shows grapes, plums, tomatoes and sweet peppers.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Got to see some Swifts using a chimney in my hometown this week!

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I was fishing with a fish biologist the other day who referred to birders as Bird Perverts. I laughed, because I think I understand what he means. Also, I love Boobies!

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

While I anticipate the spring migration like a parched desert does the rain, the fall migration always carries heavier feelings. I love the fall: the crisp weather, the colors, the winding down of a high-strung life. It’s still hard to say goodbye to the summer birds, the mild days and the daylight.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

This might be the smallest whole frog I’ve ever encountered. Also, a good reminder not to crush leaves no matter how much you love the sound.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Of all the birds that cross the skies above me somewhat regularly, I think ravens still take my breath away the most.

A raven flies over Detroit Dam calling loudly to its mate on the mountain side.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

We’re living in the age of provenance. But at what cost? When the human heart learns not from the universe itself but from the monster we made, we’ve begun to unmake ourselves.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Toby is really punching up these days. He’s decided his new favorite place is to hang out on the new stools and then have a good, old-fashioned punching match with whomever walks by. This was my daughter’s turn at the Toby gauntlet.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Toby has almost achieved perfection in his “Paint me like one of your French girls” pose.

Toby Akimoff reclines against a glass door.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Happy International Cat Day to the guy who sleeps on my side of the bed, helps me with yoga, my little basket case and my curiosity doppelgänger.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear binoculars and help you find rare birds.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Behold the Scissor-tailed flycatcher. I’ve seen one in Texas, but they were all over Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma last week, and they were delightful.

A Scissor-tailed flycatcher perches on a barbed-wire fence.

Two Scissor-tailed flycatchers perch on a barbed-wire fence.

A female scissor-tailed flycatcher brings back a hardy meal for her recently fledged brood.

Her recently fledged brood of scissor-tailed flycatchers resting before flight school.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Have you ever heard of the Mountain boomer? They were allegedly misnamed because settlers would hear prairie chickens booming in the distance but on arriving would find Common collared lizards basking in the sun. I found this fella in the Wichita Mountains.

A common collared lizards basking on the pink-hued granite in the Wichita mountains.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

I scrounged up quite a few lifers (9?) yesterday during an early morning exploration of the Wichita Mountains before my flight back to Oregon. The Black-capped vireo was our target species, but I had no way to know for sure until I got home and cleaned up some very dark images. I am very happy!

Juvenile, female Black-capped vireo in the Wichita Mountains

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Look at these fledgling Scissor-tailed flycatchers I saw in the Wichita Mountains in Oklahoma!

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

I’ve got a bit of a Schrödinger's cat’s house situation here. Toby and I cannot exist in the same space together. If I’m so much as one toe outside, he has to be inside. If I’m inside, he will go outside, (supervised by my partner) but there is no universe in which we are both outside together.

Shows a guy sitting on a patio while a cat lurks in the doorway.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

I have wanted a hood every day we’ve lived in this house. We’ve had way too many early morning smoke alarms going off when I cook breakfast, or anything flambéed.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

The kitchen will always be the heart and soul of our home. When we decided to stay where we are for a while, we realized we needed a better place for food and friends. Our summer project 2026 is finally done.

A kitchen remodel, island, cabinets stove

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

“The significance of a revolution will be known after the days have gone past us. When the children in the coming years wake up and, like the albatross, glide across the azure sky. The freedom to live a life of meaning and joy.” - Avijeet Das

A Black-footed albatross flies low over the ocean.

A Black-footed albatross flies over the ocean.

A closer image of a Black-footed albatross flying low over the water.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Coho do have tiny faces, compared to Chinook, of course.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

I’m sunburned to a crisp, and could fall asleep with this Coho as a pillow right now after getting up at 2:30 am to make a long run out to The Thumb to spend a little time on my beautiful Pacific Ocean.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

I should’ve found a Rock wren years ago for all the time I’ve spent in the desert. I’ve certainly heard them. I suppose sometimes you just have to wait for your moment.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Made another trip out to visit Crack-in-the-Ground, one of Oregon’s coolest geological features.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

It’s time to feed the baby cows. She doesn’t always try to take this many in one trip.

A crow picks up dog food from a raised platform feeder.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Ain’t no chill like Nighthawk chill

Shows a Nighthawk perched on a barbed wire fence.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Nighthawks might be one of my favorite treat birds when I’m on the east side. I’ve seen so many on this trip, and I just can’t get enough of them.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

My latest piece for Travel Oregon is all about Oregon’s gorgeous Lake Lodges. I made a quick stop at Paulina Lake last year for some bird watching and stopped in at the lodge for a beverage, only to discover a perfect place to bird watching and people watch. traveloregon.com/things-to-do...

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

I had only ever seen one Lewis’s woodpecker in my life before I floated through the old burn on the Grande Ronde River in Northeast Oregon last week. My friend told me that’s about to change. We counted fifty in one hour and then another 100 birds or so to the take out the next day.

A Lewis’s woodpecker perched on a broken branch.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

I often refer to these birds as the Tequila Sunrise, or the cocktail bird. They remind me of a drink on the beach in Mexico, and even when you only catch a glimpse in the corner of your eye, you know exactly what it was. I lost count between 40 and 50 Western tanagers on the Grande Ronde float.

A Western tanager perches in a pine tree.

A Western tanager perches on a fallen log.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

I could not have been more surprised by these brand-new yard birds that showed up this morning. I’ve had a few Black-capped chickadees over the years, but a Chestnut-backed chickadee is still a rare treat wherever I see them. I had three babies and a very attentive parent in my yard all morning.

A baby Chestnut-backed chickadee asks for food from a parent while on a tree branch.

A baby Chestnut-backed chickadee receives food from a parent while on a patio chair.

A baby Chestnut-backed chickadee waits for food from a parent while on a patio chair.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Yes, Western toads are more commonly found on dry ground. I've found them several miles from water before. They're very well-traveled critters.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

I don’t think I’ve ever held another creature that was so cool, dry, and clean feeling before. And the colors were spectacular, the iPhone just doesn’t do it justice at night.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

I just spent the last 4 days rafting down the Minam, Wallowa & Grande Ronde rivers in Eastern Oregon and saw so much wildlife, including more than 100 Lewis’s Woodpeckers! But look at this absolute unit of a Western toad. From Now on, when someone says “that’s a toad!” This is what I’ll think of.

A herper checks out a massive Western toad along the Grande Ronde River.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

I managed to piss off a Red-tailed hawk parent today when I took a photo of its fledgling leaning to fly. Mama or papa circled over my head screaming for a good 5 minutes. I apologized and deleted the photo.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

I love song dogs. Wherever I’m lucky enough to encounter them.

A coyote dries off after a swim in the Willamette River.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

My favorite thing about a late spring road trip to the other side is running into these guys. The first time I open the car door and hear their metallic call, it feels like seeing an old friend after a very long time.

A Yellow-headed blackbird perches on cattails at Klamath Wildlife Area.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Found a pair of Bald eagle siblings milling about the nest like bored teenagers. One was even hunched over like it was staring at an iPhone.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

It is really cool. It’s also frustrating that it’s only 1% of the original habitat of the Willamette Valley and that it’s just these individual parcels of land surrounded by so many invasive species.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

According to our habitat biologist, they can outcompete, but we have to lend a hand.

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Tim Akimoff @timakimoff.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

A lot of the fields are weedy. This particular field is nearly fully restored. I’ve been coming back here for 10 years to watch the progress.

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